Should i just mind my own business or say something?

Question

a friend of mine feeds her daughter alfagetti every day for lunch. she eats baby cereal for breakfast and whatever the grandmother cooks for supper. whole milk and no snacks. she is 11 months old. I am worried that she is not getting proper nutrition.

Answer 1

are you serious?

Of course you're not!

hehehe

You almost got me!

Answer 2

I think you should say somethning cause the baby could get very sick from it also you should give her something to feed or suggest foods that will help.

If that doesnt work tell her and hope she understands!

Answer 3

at this age, most nutrition should still come from formula or whole milk (and i don't know what alfagetti is, i assume maybe like mac & cheese?; if so, this if fine) now if the baby looks malnourished, etc., that's another story

Answer 4

How do you know for certain that this is the child's full diet?  Are you there at every meal?

Unless you can bring up the subject very casually, in a way that is not judgemental or potentiall embarassing for her (maybe there are financial issues), I would MYOB. (Maybe talk about how you can't get your child to eat veggies -- how does she get her child to eat them?  Or marvel at how your baby can't seem to go more than 2 hours without a snack ... how often does her baby eat?)

But, while this is not great nutrition, there is nothing here that is really abusive, so leave it alone.

Answer 5

Id make jokes,    to not make

it obvious you're telling her what

to feed her baby,

say things like

Is that all she eats? She must get sick of that...

She should hopefully start feeding her baby more

Answer 6

maybe try being subtle in suggestions, just say something like ur kids really like this for lunch and u could even go buy her a cookbook especially pointed towards cooking for little ones and give it to her.

Answer 7

It doesn't sound like she is...

You could play it safe, not say anything to her, and call social services (not to take the baby away, but to check up on the baby's diet).  If they don't correct it after that, maybe it should be taken away from them.

Answer 8

it's bound to come up in conversation again.  when it does, you should point out that there are other convenience foods which will introduce variety and better nutrition into her daughter's diet.  prepacked baby foods would be nutritionally better than alfagetti, but her daughter is a little too old for the jar foods.  most supermarkets - and heinz, for example - do a range of microwave meals designed for babies and small children - these will be nearly the same as the adult ones but tend not to have sugar and salt added.

whole milk isn't a problem for children under 2 years old, and if the grandmother is providing balanced meals she is unlikely to have any serious problems in the immediate future.  if granny is feeding the child chicken nuggets and chips each night then there may be a problem.

having said this, children raised on limited diets tend to be picky eaters and may be more susceptible to eating disorders later in life.  children brought up to expect just one type of food will find it much harder to adjust to going to school, for example, where their favourite/only food choice will not always be available.  additionally, alfagetti is quite high in sugars and this can affect children's learning and concentration.

as well as this, a diet which contains mushy foods which don't require chewing or manipulation in the mouth mean that babies' tongue and jaw muscles don't develop properly and can hinder speech development.  again, this will depend a lot on what granny is providing for the evening meal.

you could perhaps express your concern to her in the guise of commenting on your own or somebody else's child - just say that it worries you that some food types can be detrimental to child development - i'm sure that she'll draw the comparison between whichever child you refer to and her own child.

you could also, for example, have them round for coffee and then put slices of apple out as a snack and offer the baby one to chew on.  if she likes it, you can make much of this with the mother.  if she refuses, that'd be a good point to highlight to your friend that her child is refusing healthy foods because she's not used to them.